...a turn to localism?

( abridged )

The Fairness Doctrine, which forced broadcasters to offer equal time to both sides of controversial issues, was abolished in 1987, paving the way for talk radio to take the opinionated—and popular—form it has today.

Now, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and such influential Democratic senators as Barbara Boxer and Chuck Schumer are pushing for its return, or something like it. Could the equal-time provisions pull a Don Imus and make a radio comeback?

Obama has called on Henry Rivera, who was a commissioner in the 1980s when the Fairness Doctrine existed, to oversee the FCC transition process. Rivera is a supporter of bringing back the provisions. And heading Obama's overall transition team is John Podesta, head of liberal think tank the Center for American Progress.

While the CAP stopped short of advocating a return of the Fairness Doctrine, it did support more stringent adherence to so-called localism, which critics consider a back door to requiring that stations ditch some of their conservative hosts.

The FCC is considering the matter now, weighing such questions as whether to require stations to create "community advisory boards" made up of "local officials and other community leaders." The boards would tell radio executives whether the content they broadcast is adequately addressing the needs of the community, subject to the board's interpretation.

"The disparities between conservative and progressive programing reflect the absence of localism in American radio," the CAP said. The group suggests that radio broadcast licenses be renewed every three years instead of eight and that stations that don't prove they are operating "on behalf of the public interest" be denied license renewals or be fined. // paul bond, 11.26.08, msnbc